


William Shakespurr

by bananaquit



Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: Background Anderperry, Gen, bc i can't resist giving everything gay overtones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-09 03:05:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13472400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananaquit/pseuds/bananaquit
Summary: prompt from deadpoetlesbian on tumblr: "the dead poets adopt a cat and have to secretly take care of it together without getting caught"





	William Shakespurr

“You just _happened_ to find a cat taking a stroll around the grounds.” Meeks said, looking down at the purring brown tabby resting on Neil’s lap. All the poets were gathered in Neil and Todd’s room around Neil’s bed. Neil sat atop the covers with Todd beside him, all eyes trained on the feline in question.

“No, Meeks, it’s a dog.” Pitts said sarcastically.

“Will you keep your voices down?” Cameron hissed. “We’re getting so many demerits for this.”

“I wasn’t just going to leave him out there.” Neil protested. “It’s _cold_. Look at him. He’s happy. Pretty baby. Aren’t you such a handsome boy?” he cooed, scratching under the cat’s chin with his finger. He looked back up to the others, grinning. “His name’s William Shakespurr and we’re keeping him.”

“How are you gonna keep a cat in here?” Todd asked, tapping his hand on his knee as he looked into William’s admittedly adorable yellow-green eyes.

“Okay, here’s how it’s gonna play out.” Neil began. “One of us can sneak into the basement and get some sandbags and boxes for litter. We feed him our table scraps until someone can sneak into town and get food. We’ll take turns keeping him in our rooms so Hager doesn’t get suspicious.”

“Neil, you’re insane.” Todd laughed.

Knox groaned, wiping at his stuffy nose and puffy eyes. “I dunno, Neil. I’m-” He sneezed loudly. “-allergic.”

“Okay, then we keep him out of your room.” said Charlie, smirking. “I say we go for it. Give the little guy a chance.” He reached down to pat the feline on the head. William flattened his ears in slight displeasure.

“It’s settled, then. He stays.” Neil decided. “Knox, you’re getting the supplies.” Knox let out another groan, but gratefully accepted the invitation to leave the room.

Meeks shrugged. “We’re already running off in the middle of the night, this couldn’t be much worse.”

Neil glanced at Pitts, who looked unsure. “Pittsie?” he ventured. “You can’t say no to this face.” He stood up and thrust the feline into Pitts’ arms. William blinked sweetly up at him as Pitts held him awkwardly, looking between Neil and the cat and wondering just which face his friend was talking about.

Pitts sighed. “Fine.”

And so it was done. Knox returned with the promised supplies and a schedule was quickly drawn up. Much to everyone’s surprise, the plan actually worked. The boys somehow managed to keep fooling the administration for days, then weeks. The makeshift litter boxes were stowed away under the beds and changed discreetly but regularly. The boys (minus Knox) found themselves always choosing the room with the cat to hang out in while they studied or just talked as they grew helplessly attached to the friendly feline. His favorite toy turned out to be the crumpled paper balls from Todd’s overflowing wastebasket, which he would bat around like they were the most entertaining thing on Earth. Lint rollers kept suspicion about his shedding at bay and Charlie somehow managed to supply a steady stream of cat food. Cups of water and the occasional secret trip to the bathroom sink kept him well-watered and healthy.

William was funny in the way he acted different around each boy and in each room, his preferences clearly developing over time. He would squeeze between Todd and Neil when they shared a bed at night, curling up wherever he pleased and lulling them both to sleep with the soft sound of his contented purring. They often woke up with a face full of cat butt and a mouth full of fur, but it was worth it.

He seemed to take a liking to Cameron when he was with Cameron and Charlie, almost ignoring Charlie entirely (though maybe that was because Charlie refused to call him anything other than “pussy”). He curled up at the foot of Cameron’s bed at night. However, he did have a habit of knocking Cameron’s pencils off his desk whenever he was trying to work, which was more than a bit irritating, not to mention that Charlie was constantly trying to win William’s favor by sneaking him scraps of meat from the dinner table. It never worked and instead only led to further squabbling between Cameron and Charlie, who would immediately stop when they looked over and saw William hiding under the bed.

In Meeks and Pitts’ room, William preferred to sleep atop the radiator and absorb its warmth. Everyone agreed that their room had the superior radiator, mostly because they’d manually made improvements to it themselves so it didn’t stutter and quit working like all the others. They felt honored that William recognized their handiwork, even if he chewed through the radio wires and set that project back by a week or so.

Everything was fantastic… until William’s natural instincts took hold.

It had been just another afternoon until William jumped up on the windowsill in Pitts and Meeks’ room and started _screaming_. He mewed and yowled like his life depended on it, pawing at the window and meowing his little heart out. Pitts tried frantically to shush him, but Meeks accepted defeat almost immediately. William wasn’t fixed, Meeks explained to him. His pheromones were going to town and nothing could calm him down.

“So he’s like Knox.” Pitts couldn’t help but joke, trying to keep calm. Any chance of that happening vanished when the other boys burst in, wondering what was going on. They frantically bickered about what to do for a few minutes until they heard loud footsteps approaching down the hall.

Everyone froze. A devious smirk suddenly appeared on Charlie’s face. “Follow my lead.” he said, then snatched William off the windowsill and took off full-speed down the hall. Hager’s voice bellowed something about slowing down, but the others raced on behind Charlie. He skidded to a halt in front of Keating’s office.

“What are you doing?” Cameron whispered.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m saving this pussy’s life, Cameron.” Charlie replied. “Think about it. We hand him over to Hager, he gets taken to the shelter, he dies.”

“He actually has a point on this one.” Meeks interjected. “Hager will find out eventually. Keating’s our last hope.”

“So what, we’re just gonna go in there and beg him to take the cat?” asked Pitts.

“You really wanna do the alternative?” asked Charlie. Pitts went quiet. Charlie took that as a sign of agreement and rapped on the door. Keating called for them to come inside.

“Captain,” Charlie greeted as he strode in. The others crowded in behind him and closed the door.

“Boys,” Keating replied, raising his eyebrows at the sight of William but somehow managing not to look too surprised. “I’m guessing the matter of discussion today would be this fellow here.” he said, nodding towards William.

Charlie nodded. “I’ll let cat boy here do the talking.” he said, nudging Neil forward. Neil shot him a glare before drawing in a breath and beginning.

“I-I found him wandering the grounds a few weeks ago,” Neil explained, taking the cat from Charlie and stroking him to calm his nerves. “We’ve managed to keep him without anyone knowing for a while, but… we can’t do it anymore.” Neil smiled weakly. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but we were hoping you could take him.” Neil set William down. He promptly leapt up and took a seat on Keating’s lap, purring. Keating smiled faintly as he petted him.

“He’s really friendly.” Pitts vouched earnestly. Meeks nodded in agreement.

“So it seems.” Keating replied. He heaved a deep sigh. “I realize this cat means a lot you, but-”

“Please,” Todd squeaked from the back of the cluster. Everyone turned to look at him as he wiped at the tears that were starting to gather at the corner of his eyes. “M-Mr. Keating, you gotta take him. He’s gonna get put down at the shelter.” he nearly begged, struggling to maintain his composure. William jumped off of Keating’s lap and trotted over to Todd as if sensing his despair, rubbing up against his legs. Todd scooped him into his arms and held him like a baby, belly-up. Though Neil had always seemed to be his favorite out of all the boys, Todd was the only one he allowed to hold him like that. “Hi,” Todd whispered to him, smiling softly as William purred and kneaded at the air with his paws. Todd let out a weak laugh as he craned up to touch noses with him.

Keating stared at them for a few moments, his resolve melting at the display. He let out another breath. “Alright, give him here.” he finally conceded. “I’ve received gifts from students before, but never something like this.” He laughed as Todd deposited William into his arms. “You certainly have been taking my advice, I’ve no right to turn down what comes of that. I must say I didn’t expect this, but I suppose we should welcome the opportunities life gives us. I’ll take him home and keep him safe for you.” There was a moment of silence apart from William’s steady purring. “Have you given him a name?”

“William Shakespurr, Captain.” Neil said, smiling as he nodded.

Keating laughed. “An excellent choice, Neil.”

“Thank you.” Todd whispered. He crouched down to plant a kiss on top of William’s head before standing back up.

“Farewell, boys.”

“Goodbye, Captain.” said Neil.

After the boys had left, Keating turned to William, who was now sitting on his desk and staring at him expectantly. Keating reached over to scratch behind his ears, eliciting a rumbling purr from the tabby. “You certainly are quite endearing, aren’t you, William?” Keating muttered, giving a smile.


End file.
